Windsor to develop air cargo facility

Part of city’s plan to become multimodal transportation and logistics hub

The City of Windsor is taking a giant step forward in fulfilling its vision of becoming a multimodal transportation and logistics hub for national and international cargo. The city said in a release that it will work with Carlin Enterprises, a Canadian-owned and operated transportation and logistics provider, to finalize an agreement, which was approved in principle by Windsor City Council, to develop a state-of-the-art multimodal cargo facility to be located at the Windsor International Airport. The cargo facility will serve rail, ocean container and road operations and will be an important link for air cargo to and from the airport.

Federica Nazzani, the airport’s president and CEO, said, “This milestone for Windsor-Essex leverages this region’s existing strengths and is the future model for developments and consolidation in the transportation and logistics sector.” Ms. Nazzani said she believes the project will be a catalyst for future economic growth and job creation in the region.

The appeal of the Windsor Inte­rnational Airport site is that it is close to the U.S. border and will speed up cargo transit times by bypassing congestion at other ports, and it will also support the green energy transportation initiative by optimizing rail, road and water transportation, the city said in a release.

The project estimates that up to 10 different freight services and logistics companies will be interested in leasing dock and office space in the new facility. The companies expected to show the most interest will be involved in container operations, container yard supplies, transportation freight handling services for ocean, road and rail containers, air freight service providers for consolidation and deconsolidation, customs brokerage and freight-forwarding, yard services, heavy haul transportation and storage and courier and expedited services, the city said.

The site is anticipated to include an 80-door facility, which will feature a 30,000-square-foot loading dock operation and a 12,000-square-foot office building, and will employ up to 360 people with an additional 100 indirect jobs.

Ms. Nazzani has been promoting Windsor International Airport’s potential as a multimodal logistics centre in the heart of the NAFTA trade corridor, due to its geographic location. “Benefits such as its close proximity to major air, rail and highway links on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border make Windsor International Airport significantly desirable for commercial access to Canadian and North American locations,” the city said.

The Windsor International Airport is owned by the City of Windsor and operated under a long-term management agreement with Your Quick Gateway (Windsor) Inc. YQG maintains over 2,200 acres of developable land, with approximately 1,100 acres identified as surplus land and earmarked for a variety of commercial and industrial development with close proximity to airport operations.